つつ

Japanese

つつ • (tsutsu)

while, -ing, for two actions happening at once
様(さま)々(ざま)な目(もく)的(てき)や意(い)味(み)を込(こ)めつつ食(しょく)事(じ)をしている。
Samazama na mokuteki ya imi o kome tsutsu shokuji o shiteiru.
People have meals with various goals or meanings.
although, doing in spite of opposition
in the process of

This attaches to the 連用形 form of a verb.

For pronunciation and definitions of つつ – see the following entries.

【筒】S	[noun] tube [noun] hub (central part of a wheel)

【銃】S	[noun] gun, firearm

【鶺鴒】	[noun] (archaic, poetic) wagtail

(This term, つつ (tsutsu), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as つつ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as つつ.)